About Me

When not nosing, tasting, drinking and reading about malt whisky, I own one of Israel's premiere boutique coaching practices, specializing in small businesses and executive teams.
Trained in the law, I was an international law attorney and took part in Israel's peace negotiations with the Palestinians, as well as representing my country at the UN for parts of the negotiations on the implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Later I was appointed to the military bench.
My favorite thing, other than whisky, is teaching.
You can contact me through the social media buttons above or by email: michael(at)maltandoak.com, replacing the (at) with an @.

Statement of Integrity and Guidelines

Malt and Oak is an independent whisky blog, offering my own views, opinions and news from the world of malt whisky.
These are my guidelines:

1. All whisky reviews published are of whiskies I have personally tasted and noted. Guest bloggers only write about their own personal tastings.

2. With the exception of official whisky samples, I accept no consideration whatsoever from any distillery, bottler, distributor, drink company or store for my opinions.

3. I maintain strict impartiality and objectivity in tasting all whiskies, not least when tasting official samples. Any review of official whisky samples sent to me will be so noted in the post.

4. I will accept invitations to tastings, events and official visits, and full disclosure will be made on any tasting notes and articles resulting from these events or visits.

5. Any sample received over 30 ml in volume is shared with fellow whisky bloggers. In any event, no sample larger than 100 ml will be accepted.

6. No advertisements promoting specific brands will be accepted.

7. I will answer any inquiry by my readers as quickly and as fully as possible.

8. Should I give a link purchase the reviewed whisky, it will be given free of any commercial interest. The link given will always point to cheapest selling price I found on the web. No commission is paid, nor any other consideration given, for such link.

9. As of July 2017, I serve as Douglas Laing’s Israel brand ambassasdor. As such, I will obviously not be posting reviews of Douglas Laing products.

Brora 25 Year Old, From the Year That Ended it All….

Just a week into the new year, and it seems like the right time to taste a Brora distilled in 1983, the distillery’s final year of operation.

In the picture from 1930, of course, is the Clynelish distillery, put out of commission in 1968 after the building of the new, modern distillery, after which the old Clynelish was to be retired, and indeed, was mothballed. But nature wasn’t playing nice on Islay, and a drought there meant that Port Ellen was unable to produce the new make needed to meet sales projections for the Johnnie Walker blends for the early 1970s. So the old Clynelish distillery was pressed back into service (initially named simply Clynelish II) and started producing very heavily peated whisky for four years, but by 1973 Islay distilleries were carrying their own weight, so peat levels at Brora were lowered back to “normal Highland” peating levels with an occasional heavily peated batch run here and there, but this stopped completely after 1980. So basically, the Brora produced in the late 70s and early 80s was very similar to the Clynelish produced across the road. I have not had a Clynelish from 1983 to compare side by side with a Brora, but that would be a great experiment if you have access to such liquid (and if you do, please don’t forget to invite me 🙂 )

Brora in 1930Photo Credit: Diageo

This expression is somewhat reticent, and needs quite a bit of time, so it’s not a quick drink.

Nose: Wax, honey and very light peat. Some fresh green leaves, an earthy note compliments some floral notes. After a while, some vanilla comes through.

Palate: Light and fruity, pretty vibrant, with a very gentle peatiness and white pepper. Not overly complex. A drop of water enhances the pepper and brings out a sweetish citrus note.

Linger: Spice and honey linger over a really light smokiness, with a spiciness down the gullet.

Conclusion

The 13th release was far better, it seems like that extra decade in the cask helped the spirit (although the 22 year old RMS was a total cracker). This expression isn’t overly complex, but is, nevertheless, classic and intriguing.

What can I say, wax and peat work….

The old picture of Brora was shared with me by Colin Dunn, and comes from the Diageo archive.